Method of sealing lading vehicles



March 2, 1965 D. s. RouLE METHOD OF SEALING LADING VEHICLES Filed Oct.20. 1961 l x I5' ,22 21 I' 22: 25 f A 25 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR DARIOS. ROLLE ATTORNEY March 2, 1965 D, s, RQLLE 3,171,874

METHOD OF SEALING LADING VEHICLES Filed OCC. 20, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR DARIO S. Pour A TTOFA/EV United States Patent 3,171 874 METHODF SEALIN LADING VEHICLES Dario S. Rolle, 1200 5th Ave. NW., Chisholm,Minn. Filed Oct. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 146,553 1 Claim. (Cl. 264-267) Thisinvention relates to sealing openings in a lading body of a vehicle suchas a rail car for carrying iron ore. The invention is especially usefulfor sealing openings in a rail car used for transporting finely dividediron ore from a loading point to a point of discharge where Isuch ore isdischarged or dumped upon the release of doors in the bottom of the car.While the present specification will deal with the specific example ofiron ore cars, it will be understood that the invention may be appliedto the sealing of other containers as well.

When rich iron ore deposits are found, the ore may be loaded directly inore cars and carried to a point of discharge such as an ore dock.However, when the ore is not rich, then it must be processed andconcentrated near the mines before it is shipped. As rich ore depositsexpire, there is more and more emphasis on processing and concentratingthe low grade ore which remains.

Various processes are used for concentrating the ore. Usually theyinvolve the ore being crushed and treated so that it is very finelydivided (80 mesh and finer). Also large quantities of water aregenerally used in the final stages of processing the finely divided ore.Accordingly, when the treated or processed ore is transferred to railcar loading hoppers, it is not unusual for the hoppers to have a largeamount of water intermixed with the ore. In some cases the ore in thehoppers has a consistency which may be likened to a freshly mixed batchof cement having a high percentage of water therein.

The hoppers or loading pockets as they are sometimes identified havedischarge openings in the bottom thereof, under which the ore cars passon tracks for filling. One arrangement involves three pockets ordischarge openings arranged longitudinally (with respect to the car andrailroad track thereunder) and each pocket has a different grade of oretherein. By proper control of the discharge of ore from each pocket aparticular blend of ore can be obtained.

Iron ore cars in wide spread use are designed to carry approximately 70tons of ore. Each car has two main doors in the bottom thereof, whichwhen opened, permit the car to be emptied, the ore moving down under theinfluence of gravity. The doors or gates as they are someJ timesidentified, when closed have a common joint or seam defined therebetweenand each gate also has two joints or seams (one at each end), definedtherebetween and the fixed end portions of the car. The doors seldom fittightly with respect to one another or with respect to the fixed part'of the car. Accordingly, the joints or seams are more accuratelydescribed as gaps or cracks or openings. These gaps or openings are therule rather than the exception and are caused in part by the cars beingsprung out of their normal shape by excessive shocks, impacts, or loads.These gaps or openings are occasionally as large as one to two incheswide and one-half inch gaps are very common. In addition, it iscustomary to provide in the fixed sides and ends of the cars a pluralityof steam jet or steam lance openings which function to permit theinsertion of a steam lance to thaw out frozen ore during cold weather.This is necessary in order to permit the discharge of such ore throughthe bottom of the car. The steam openings generally are about two inchesin diameter and theoretically are closed off when desired by round coverplates. In practice the cover plates become loose and/ or bent and donot tightly close olf the steam openings.

For many years the mining companies have known that the fine ore wouldpass through the cracks, gaps, and openings described above. This isespecially true when there is a considerable quantity of water in thehoppers which is the usual situation. Much ore seeps through the cracksand openings while the car is being filled and shortly thereafter. Thisresults in the trackage area at the filling hopper to get covered with amud of very wet fine ore. If not removed, this mud will accumulate tothe paint where the trackage becomes impassible for the ore cars andlocomotives which position the same. The ore so immediately lost can berecovered and shipped but involves much additional expense in terms oflabor and/ or machinery.

Besides such ore which is lost adjacent the loading hoppers, muchadditional ore seeps through the above described openings during transitof the cars from the ore concentration plant to the destination of theore (pelletizing plant, ore dock for lake shipping, steel mill, etc.).The vibration of the ore car as it travels over the tracks or railscontributes to this loss. Further, this ore distributed along therailroad right-of-way can not be recovered.

Because of the great expense associated with the above described loss ofore, the mining companies have tried various means and methods toeliminate or allieviate the loss.

One prior arrangement has been to use a blanket of dried grass or hay inthe bottom of the car to provide a seal for the fine ore but to permitthe escape or drainage of the water. The hay is placed in the bottom ofthe car by a laborer throwing the hay into the car with a pitchfork.This has not been satisfactory for various reasons. First, the materialand labor cost is quite high. Also, some of the openings Vare eithervertical or are slanted away from the horizontal and it is diflicult tokeep the hay abutted against the opening. To seal steam openings, thehay has to be manually stuffed into the holes. The ore being dumped intothe car from a loading pocket has tremendous force and tends to sweepthe hay away leaving the cracks or openings described above uncovered.Also, the fine ore still works its way through the hay. In general it isexpensive to use hay and the end results still do not prevent the lossof ore.

Complete preformed liners such as plastic have also been tried forsealing an ore car. These not only are expensive in direct material costbut also are unsatisfactory because they do not permit the drainage ofthe water in the ore from the car. It will be understood that it is veryuneconomical to ship a high percentage of water in the ore.

Preformed mats of porous material have also been tried. They arepositioned in the bottom of the car So as to overlay the cracks betweenthe doors and the fixed portion of the car before the ore is dumped intothe car from the loading pockets above. Such a mat is initially fiat andmay have fibres such as hogs hair as the main material. These mats havenot been satisfactory. They have a high initial cost in terms ofmaterial alone. Also they often are swept out of position by the ore asit is first dumped into the car. This is especially apt to happen whenblending is being done and the ore is initially dumped from a pocketabove a slanted end surface of the car. Sometimes the mat is shot rightout of the ore car by this initial quantity of ore. However, even if themat is not swept out of position, it still does not completely preventfine ore from passing through the door openings. Accordingly the mudbelow the hopper and the loss along the railroad right-of-way duringtransit still occurs. Also the mats do not cover the steam openings sothey have to be sealed in addition. One way to do this is to use metalor wooden plugs or wedges to seal the opening. This involves moreexpense and these mechanical arrangements often vibrate loose duringtransit 3 of the car and hence still do not prevent the loss of ore. Thepresent invention solves the many aspects ofthe above described problemsimply, effectively, and, of great importance, economically. Y Thepresent method of sealing ore cars provides a water or liquid perviousbut finely divided ore impervious seal for all the openings and cracksin the car by bridging the ,opening with a large quantity of fibrousmaterial, the

fibrous material being intermixed with .a suitable liquid adhesive (tobe described in more detail below), and the fibrous material as mixedwith the adhesive adhering to the portions of the car adjacent theopening or crack. In this manner, the opening or crack is bridged overby a seal is effective to retain even the finest of ores (200 mesh). Atthe same time, Water or other liquid in the ore may filter through theseal and be dischargedfrom the car.

In the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the adhesive is a liquidadhesive whichis shot or sprayed from a nozzle under pressure. Anadhesive which works very well is one manufactured and sold by the SwiftPacking Company under their type number 7103. This adhesive has a lowviscosity, and a resin reinforced synthetic rubber base with hexane as asolvent diluent. This adhesive has the property of adhering to almostanything and readilyadheres to a metallic surface such as the side, end,or door of an ore car even if the surface thereof is dirty, rusty, wet,or otherwise contaminated. Y

Various fibrous materials may be used with the present invention. I havefound one that is especially well suited from both results and aneconomic standpoint. It is the type of wood shavings commerciallyavailable from planing mills and the like. Another fibrous material thatworks very well is a wood cellulose product cornmercially known asexcelsior. It is characterized by having long strands of tough fibre.Other fibrous materials may be used as well.

The adhesive may be first applied to the surfaces to be sealed and thenthe fibrous material applied, or the fibrous material and the adhesivemay be premixed and applied so as to bridge over the opening to besealed. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, I provide anapparatus comprising a pair of nozzles, one a large bore device forapplying brous material and the other a relatively small bore device forapplying the liquid adhesive. The Ypair of nozzles are arranged so thatthey may be manually manipulated Yby an operator in the sense that hemay move the nozzles about to place the discharge openings thereofadjacent any desired location inside of the ore car. For thisarrangement, the operator would be stationed on a raised platform alongthe side of which the cars progress as they move toward the loadinghoppers. The nozzles may be individually controlled by the operator fromthe standpoint of regulating the ow of materials from the dischargeopenings thereof. In this manner,

` the operator may apply liquid adhesive only, fibrous material only, orboth materials simultaneously.

tively finely granulated material such as a commercial sawdust incombination with the liquid adhesive works very well and provides anexcellent fine ore imperviousliquid pervious seal. This can be doneeither where the crack or opening is not too wide or large or wherefirst a webbing of adhesive is sprayed across the opening to be sealed,the web so produced providing a base upon which the sawdust particlesmay build up so as to ultimately bridge over the opening.

It will be understood therefore that there are various facets to myinvention, one'of them being the variation in sequence of applyingmaterials, and another being the variation in choice of filler material.All arrangements are characterized however by the resultant seal of thecrack oropening being effective to retain the fines (fine ore) withinthe car and yet is pervious to water so as to permit the water to drainfrom the car. The seal tenaciously adheres to the opening or crack andis not dislodged or swept away from the same when ore is dumped into thecar from a loading pocket. Each steam opening can be easily sealed. Theseal does not interfere with the unloading of the cars; when the doorsare tripped, the huge mass In the preferred embodiment, the individualfibres of l the fibrous material have an appreciable unit length. Thisgreatly assists in bridging across the gap or opening to be sealed.These fibres in combination with the adhesive which bonds them withrespect tothe car provide great strength against pressure appliedperpendicular to the opening. It is not uncommon to find intermixed withcommercial wood shavings a substantial quantity of sawdust or relativelysmall wood particles. This is no problem and in fact in some instancesmay be considered an advantage because the individual sawdust particlesalso coact with the adhesive yso as to adhere to the-object againstwhich they are impelled. Thus the longer fibers assist in bridging themain gap and the smaller particles contribute to the overall sealingprocess by filling up the relatively small openings defined betweenoverlapped or r interweaved longer fibres. Actually, I have found forsome types of sealing problems that using only a relaof ore will breakthe seal. Also, if it is necessary to thaw the orek (such as during coldweather) the steam lances can be easily pushed through the steam openingand the seal and into the body of ore. Also the seal does not vibrateloose during transit of the car.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide an improvedsealing method for a vehicle having a lading body with openings throughwhich may pass finely divided material, the sealing method sealing theopenings to the passage of fine material but yet allowing the passage ofwater or other liquid through the seal.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading ofthe present specification including the appended claim in connectionwith the drawings in which:

FIGURE l depicts a top view of a lading body such as is typical of aniron ore car in widespread use;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of the body shown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a simplified showing of a pair of elements defining anopening therebetween, the opening having been sealed pursuant to theteaching of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the FIGURE 3 arrangement Withlthe seal compressedby a body of ore;

FIGURE 5 depicts a fibrous material blowing machine;

FIGURE 6 depicts a double nozzle arrangement of great utility in thepresent invention for intermixing fibrous material and liquid adhesiveand for directing the discharge of the materials toward the item to besealed;

FIGURE 7 shows an enlarged Vview of the discharge openings of thenozzles of FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 8 shows one typical arrangement for practicing the method aspectsof the present invention.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the reference numeral 10 generally designates anore car or vehicle having a lading body 11. Y yThe body has twolongitudinal or side portions 12 and 13 and two end portions 14 and 15.As is clearly shown in FIGURE 2, the sides 12 and 13 have upper verticalportions and lower slanted portions Which are sloped toward one another.A pair of doors 16 and 17 hinged as at 18 and V19 respectively are shownin a closed position (and are adapted to |be held there by means notshown) eective to retain lading within the car except for leakage to bedescribed below. When the doors are tripped (by means not shown), thenthey swing downwardly to permit the discharge of lading. For simplicity,the car 10 has been shown very schematically.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the doors 16 and 17 define .therebetween agap, crack, or opening 21. Further the doors 16 and 17 define betweenthe fixed portions 14 and 15 of the car a plurality of cracks oropenings 22 and 23 respectively.

VA plurality of circular openings 25 are provided in the members 12-15.These are often provided where freezing of the ore is rapt to occur,and, as indicated above, permit the insertion of steam lances from theoutside of the car for permitting the thawing of the ore. The openings25 usually are provided with mechancial closures (not shown) on theouter surface of the members 12-15. However, these closures are oftenunsatisfactory for retaining finely divided ore in the car due to aloose fit and the like.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show an enlarged view of the doors 16 and 17. Theopening 21 may vary in Width from a small crack to a large opening ofone to Itwo inches (the size of the gap tends in part to be a functionof how badly the car is sprung out of its original shape).

In FIGURE 3 a seal identified by reference numeral 30 is shown sealingoff the opening 21. The seal is only schematically shown but itgenerally consists of intermixed fibrous material and liquid adhesive.As indicated above, one combination that works very well is that ofcommercial Wood shavings and liquid adhesive sold by the Swift PackingCompany, type No. 7103. It will be understood, however, that otheradhesives and other fibrous materials may be used within the scope ofthe invention.

The adhesive may be initially applied to the inside surfaces of thedoors 16 and 17 along the entire extent of the opening 21. Then the woodshavings may be applied against the adhesive and will adhere thereto andbridge over the gap or opening 21. An alternative method which has theadvantage of being quicker is to blend or intermix the shavings and theliquid adhesive prior to their application to the surface to be sealed.This preferably is done by using a double nozzle arrangement asdescribed above where liquid adhesive from one nozzle and fibres fromanother nozzle are simultaneously discharged and caused to intermixadjacent the discharge openings of the nozzle. Then, due to theirvelocity from being discharged from the nozzles, the intermixedmaterials continue to move and are impelled against and adhere to thedoors 16 and 17 adjacent the opening 21. Thus the opening 21 is bridgedover by a seal.

The seal 30 tenaciously clings to the doors 16 and 17 and seals theopening. When a quantity of ore 31 (FIG- URE 4) is placed into the car,there -is some tendency to compress the seal 30. However I have foundthat the ore being dumped into a car from sa loading pocket will notshoot ou or tear away the seal 30 as was often the case with the priorart arrangements of using blankets of hay or other material placed inthe bottom of the cars. The compression of the seal 30 has a beneficialresult of increasing the density of the seal. By this I mean that thecompressed seal is effective to retain even the finest of ores (200mesh). At the same time `the large amount of water in the ore may Ileachor filter through the seal and leave the car. Thus the car iseffectively sealed with a water or liquid pervious-finely dividedmaterial impervious arrangement. I have found where my seal has beenused to seal large cracks (one to two inches) in an iron ore car filledwith Nery fine ore, that substantially no ore was lost from the car.Further, at the same time the water in the ore filtered through the sealand ran from the car clean and clear having no traces of ore therein.

When it is desired to unload the cars, the doors 16 and 17 are trippedand the great mass of ore will then be effective in coacting with thedoors to break the seal and discharge down from the oar.

It will be understood that all openings through which ore can leakshould be sealed. Thus with my invention the intermixed fibrous materialand liquid adhesive may be used, not only for sealing cracks 21, 22, and23, but also for sealing hinge lines 18 and 19 and steam jet openings25.

Various mechanisms may be used for actually practicing my method ofsealing containers. One arrangement which works very well is somewhatschematically shown in FIGURE 8. Here, a car 10 is on a track adjacentto a suitable platform 35 preferably about the same height as that ofcar 10. An operator manipulates a special double nozzle (see FIGURES6-8) and directs the ow of fibrous material and liquid adhesive againstthe cracks and openings to be sealed. A first nozzle 40 is connected bya large diameter flexible hose 41 to a fibrous material blower means 42(see FIGURE 5 A second and smaller nozzle 43 for spraying liquidadhesive is connected toan adhesive pump 44 by a suitable hose 45.

Referring to FIGURE 5, the blower means 42 is shown in more detail. Itcomprises a hopper 50- for receiving bulk fibrous material such asbailed wood shavings. These shavings are agitated or fiiuifed up bysuitable means such as a continuously driven auger 51. A feed au ger 52is driven through an electrically loperated clutch 53 by a motor 54. Themotor 54 also through suitable connections 55 and 56 drives the auger 51and a blower 57. A metering gate 58 is adjustably positioned to controlthe rate of flow of fibrous material from the top portion of hopper 50into a discharge por-tion or zone 60. Fibrous material which enters thezone 60 is blown by blower 57 through a discharge opening 61 to which isconnected or coupled the large diameter exible hose 41. The cl-utch 53may be of any suitable type such as one which is electrically engaged totransmit torque. This may be effected by controlling the energization ofclutch 53 from a source of power 62 through leads 63 and a switch 64.When clutch 53 is engaged then feed auger 52 is rotated to cause fibrousmaterial to be transferred down into the discharge zone 60. l

One machine that may be used as the fibrous material blower means and amachine that I have found to be very satisfactory is a Vanco InsulationBlower, manufactured by the Vanco Machine Company of Van Wert, Ohio.This machine has the type number or designator Vanco Automatic, VH 4590IH. I have found that using this machine with approximately three poundsper square inch pressure at the discharge nozzle on the wood shavings orother fibrous mterial works very well.

One suitable pumping means 44 which may be used with the presentinvention is the Graco-Power Flo President Type of air powered pump. Itis manufactured by the Gray Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It willbe understood that other blower means and pumping means may be used inpracticing the present invention.

The nozzles 40 and 43 are shown in more detail in FIGURE 6. Preferablythey `are long enough (see FIG- URE 8) to permit the operator to reachall of the cracks and openings in the car that require sealing. Anoverall length of approximately twelve feet has been found satisfactoryfor sealing a 70 ton car, the sealing being done from a platformapproximately the height of the car. The nozzles are preferably fastenedtogether by suitable means so that they may be simultaneouslymanipulated as described above. The nozzle 40 terminates in a taperedportion 40 which is shown clearly in FIGURE 7. Nozzle 43 terminates asat 43. One arrangement which has worked well is to have the opening 40approximately 3'1/2 inches X 11/2 inches and lthe nozzle termination 43projecting ahead of termination 40 by slightly more than one inch. Thisis with an aperture of 0.017 inch for nozzle termination 43' with thepreferred Swift adhesive identified above being under a pressure of 94pounds per square inch.

The terminations 40 and 43' are arranged relative to one another so thatliquid adhesive spewing ou-t of 43 co-mingles with or mixes with fibrousmaterial discharging from opening 40 about eight inches to one foot fromopening 40.

The termination 43 of nozzle 43 has a valve head 70 which is selectivelyopened by a handle or lever 71 (see FIGURE 6) connected thereto by afine rod or wire 72 connected therebetween.

'Ihe switch 64 for controlling the clutch 53 may conveniently be locatedon the nozzle assembly depicted in FIGURE 6. Thus the operator canselectively control the application of brous material and of liquidadhesive. If only one material is desired, then the appropriate controlis actuated; if both are desired'such as for simultaneous blending orintermixing, then that also can easily be accomplished by simultaneouslyopening orifice 43 with lever 71 and closing switch 64 to engage clutch53 so as to cause brous material to be discharged from nozzle 40.

The operator preferably maintains the discharge openings 40" and 43about one foot away from the crack, gap, or opening to be sealed for theabove combination of materials, orice openings, and pressures althoughthis is not critical. While this may be considered an optimumarrangement, a separation of the discharge openings and the crack to besealed which is greater or less than one foot is permissible. Forexample, with the above parameters, a spacing of three feet was found tobek Satisfactory.

Having thus described my invention, whatl claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

means havingstrength characteristics selected so that sub-y sequentilling of said vehicle with lading may be accomplished withoutdislodging such elements yand adhesive means sealing said opening, andsaid elements and adhe- The method of sealing opening in a ladingvehicle i such as an ore car prior to the lling of such car with ladingat least part of which would otherwise undesirably pass through saidopening, said method comprising the application of a stream of brouselements intermixed with liquid adhesive means around and across saidopening so as to attain a bridging across said opening on the inside ofsaid vehicle with a compressible mat consisting of a substantial numberof said fibrous elements randomly arranged and intermixed with saidliquid adhesive means so that adjacent elements are bonded to oneanother and so that elements touching said vehicle adjacent said openingare bonded thereto, said elements and said adhesive References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS V11/03 Hart 10S-247 1,550,734 8/25Nystrom 10S-422 1,602,105 10/26 Geer et al. 117-2 XR 1,718,507 6/29Wenzel et al. 117-24 1,935,977 11/33 Geer 239-307 1,978,125 10/34Bennett 117-27 2,142,320 1/39 Lundvall 10S-422 2,610,138 9/52 Heritage264-121 2,680,899 6/54 Sebok et al. 264-112 2,850,421 9/58 Thompson156-28 2,929,436 3/ 60 Hampshire 156-38 Y 3,034,732 5/62 Winn 239-4193,096,225 7/63 Carr et al 156-38

